We are in a section titled "Miscellaneous Laws" and these are laws that Moses spoke to the congregation of Israel at various times which were then compiled into a list.
We begin today with a law that is similar to one we studied in Deuteronomy 20. "If a man has recently married, he must not be sent to war or have any other duty laid on him. For one year he is to be free to stay at home and bring happiness to the wife he has married." (Deuteronomy 24:5) Earlier in Deuteronomy, when looking at the reasons a man could be excused from war for a time, we learned that the officers of the army would ask the assembled men various questions to determine who could be excused from military service temporarily. One reason a man could be excused was if he had become engaged. He would be told to go ahead and marry the woman, presumably to stay home with her for this full year before he would be required to join the army. Here we see if a man had recently married he was to complete a full year of marriage at home before he could be called to war.
This next verse regards a person unable to pay their debt. "Do not take a pair of millstones---not even the upper one---as security for a debt, because that would be taking a person's livelihood as security." (Deuteronomy 24:6) In order to recover their loss, the person to whom the debt was owed could in some cases seize certain types of property from the person delinquent in their payments. But items used in an occupation could not be taken; this would cause the debtor to become completely bankrupt. He has no hope of ever climbing out of debt if he can't continue his work.
"If someone is caught kidnapping a fellow Israelite and treating or selling them as a slave, the kidnapper must die. You must purge the evil from among you." (Deuteronomy 24:7) In some versions of the Bible this is referred to as "menstealing" and it is forbidden by the Lord. We can see that the brothers of Joseph were actually guilty of a capital crime in the eyes of the Lord when they sold him into slavery. The law that would have allowed the death penalty to be carried out on them was not in effect at the time, but they were still guilty of a heinous offense in the Lord's sight, and after this law was put in place during the days of Moses the death penalty could be enforced against persons who committed such crimes against their fellow citizens. In a list of crimes against the Lord and against humanity, the Apostle Paul condemned slave trading in a portion of Scripture that also condemns murder. (See 1 Timothy 1:8-11) This is how seriously he regarded the issue.
As we've pointed out before, this list known as "Miscellaneous Laws" contain items not necessarily related to each other. We move from the subject of slave trading to the subject of contagious skin ailments. "In cases of defiling skin diseases, be very careful to do exactly as the Levitical priests instruct you. You must follow carefully what I have commanded them. Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam along the way after you came out of Egypt." (Deuteronomy 24:8-9)
The regulations about defiling skin diseases are found in Leviticus 13:1-46. Moses' sister Miriam was stricken with leprosy after she spoke out against the leadership of Moses and against Moses' second wife who was black. As punishment for her prejudice against a person for their skin color, and as punishment for trying to incite rebellion against Moses, the Lord afflicted Miriam with leprosy. To facilitate forgiveness and reconciliation in the family, Moses and Aaron had to pray for the healing of their sister in order to have her health restored. Though the Lord removed the leprosy, the law regarding seven days of isolation still applied and Miriam had to stay outside the camp for seven days. Moses is saying in Deuteronomy 24:8-9 that the law about quarantining the contagious person must be observed no matter who the person is. Moses sent his own sister outside the camp. No exceptions are to be made in this matter; it is for the health of the community that these laws were put in place. If exceptions are made then all sorts of contagious illnesses will break out in the camp and infect many people. They might soon have an epidemic on their hands.
Join us tomorrow as we continue through the list and see how the Lord asks the people to have compassion on the debtors, on the poor, and on the widows and the fatherless.
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